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Hot Momma Monday: Off on the right foot

Jan 23rd, 12 / 5 Comments

Last week I set some pretty lofty goals for myself to push off on my quest to become an All Around Hot Momma. I think that I actually did a pretty decent job of following through on some of my ideas and I think I’ve started off on the right foot.

One of the best things I did this past week was either cook dinner or heat leftovers for dinner every single night. Even Friday night, when Tim was gone and it was just Aric and I, instead of going out for burgers like I’d originally planned, we stayed home, make a pizza, and had a picnic in the living room while watching Tangled. WE MADE MEMORIES!! YAYZERS!!

But seriously, it ended up being a really fun night, and we didn’t even leave the house (never mind that it was also below zero and I lost all desire to do anything but curl up on the couch and watch TV).

I will admit that this past weekend we had fast food twice: Mickey D’s breakfast on Saturday and Chipotle on Sunday. However, I paid for it with a surprise $80 check that came on Friday. So thank you, stupid oral surgeon’s office, for making me pay my ENTIRE bill up front before even charging my insurance. That extra money was super neato!

I also cooked up some tasty new meals! One night (I think it was Tuesday, but I honestly cannot remember) I made breaded chicken cutlets.

So crunchy, so yummy!

These were SUPER easy! I just a couple tablespoons of melted butter and mixed it with some garlic herb bread crumbs I found in the pantry. You know when you make a graham cracker crust with the graham cracker bits and butter? Same concept for this. I then coated some boneless, skinless chicken thighs with it, then baked it at 400* for about 20 minutes or so. I’m sure this would have tasted just as awesome with chicken breasts, but I had thighs available, and thighs I used!

The last night I made chili for the first time ever! I know, I know. It’s completely crazy that I have never in my life made a batch of chili. But I did it. And I mixed it with crushed Fritos, sour cream, and lots of shredded cheddar. It was the greatest bowl of warm happiness I have ever had!

…… until I ate a bean.

I must have a sensory disorder or SOMETHING when it comes to food. I cannot eat food that feels weird, so matter how tasty it might be. Mushrooms? Nope. Oysters? Hellz no. Any kind of bean? Kill me.

So when I took a bit with few Fritos, I felt the bean mushing itself through my mouth. And it was all over. I picked my way through the rest of the bowl, but it was ruined for me. Which really REALLY sucks cause it was SO GOOD for so long. Then that one, tiny bean had to come and ruin the party.

Jerk.

On a completely unrelated note: I made a discovery this week. Actually, saying that is like saying Columbus discovered America even though he didn’t and the vikings were there before him and the native Americans were there even before that. But that “discovery?”

Trader Joe’s.

I’ve long heard tales of this “Trader Joe’s.” The organic food. The ease in which one could find vegetarian, gluten free, and even vegan food. I’d heard all about it. There are several in the Twin Cities area, and lots of people in my office bring lunches from Trader Joe’s that look and smell so darn yummy.

But my brain went like this: Trader Joe’s = Whole Foods. Whole Foods = $$$$$$$$$$. Thus, Trader Joe’s = $$$$$$$$$.

But Friday afternoon, I’d had enough with all the talk. I had to see it for myself. I let Tim know of my quest. His response? “Isn’t that place really expensive?”

But I went. And oh man. Man oh man oh man. I must have looked like a darn FOOL in that store! I think I went up and down every single aisle three or four times, picking things up, looking at ingredients, then picking my jaw up off the ground when I saw the prices. I could not believe my eyes.

After loading up my cart with about a week or so worth of groceries and lots of snacks I went to the check out. The damage??

LESS THAN THE NORMAL COST OF A WEEK OF FOOD FROM OUR LOCAL GROCERY STORE.

Let that sink in for a second.

Less. Than what I normally spend. For a week. Plus lots of snacks (which I don’t usually buy that much of). Including meats. And produce. And several “heat and eat” dinner choices for quick meals. (Though to be fair, I chose the non-organic options, although the organic options of everything weren’t really all that much more expensive)

I’m pretty sure I left brain matter at the check out from my mind blowing into a billion pieces.

Trader Joe’s? WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!?!?! I’m so, SO sorry I misjudged you so. I’m sure many people have the same common misconceptions that I once did, so can you find it in your heart to forgive me?

Judging by the taste of this Joe Joe I’m cramming down my face hole, I’m thinking he HAS forgiven me.

With one, simple trip to Trader Joe’s, I’ve worked on both my “STOP SPENDING SO MUCH MONEY” goal and my “COOK MOAR FOODS” goal. I call that a win.

How was your week? Make any cool discoveries or cook any yummy meals?

Hot Momma Monday, recipes, saving money

Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Shells

Dec 13th, 11 / 12 Comments

Tim and I love buffalo sauce. Buffalo wings. Buffalo chicken dip. Buffalo burgers … wait … what?

But our favorite recipe ever is Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas. I have NO idea where I got the recipe from, but I make it two or three times a year because it is soooooo good, but sooooooo filling.

The other night I got the hankerin’ for these enchiladas, but I didn’t have any tortilla shells. What I DID have was giant pasta shells. So I improvised. And won.

So today I present to you: Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Shells! (Don’t mind the crappy photos. I have NO light in my kitchen and it gets dark fast these days)

The cast of characters:

We’ve got a couple (still frozen) chicken breasts, cream of chicken soup, shredded cheddar cheese, jumbo shells, buffalo wing sauce, and sour cream based ranch dip. I suppose ranch dressing would work in place of ranch dip, but it will make the sauce runnier.

First up, you want to cook and shred the chicken. I’m sure you could buy a cooked rotisserie chicken and shred that, or buy a couple cans of cooked chicken, but I like making my own chicken. I think it tastes better! The best way I’ve found to cook chicken to shred it is putting the chicken in a foil pouch like this:

I like to season the chicken with some pepper, garlic, and onion powder, but that’s not necessary. Bake it in the foil pouch at 425* for about 20-25 minutes. When it’s done, it will be nice and juicy and tender. SUPER easy to shred! Just grab two forks and go at it:

While the chicken is cooking, start boiling your pasta shells. I’m VERY careful when cooking shells, because I don’t want them all to break! I put them in the water one by one. I DO throw the broken pieces in the water, though. That way I have something I can use to taste for done-ness without having to eat an entire shell. Just BE CAREFUL when you stir them while boiling! DON’T use a pasta fork, just use a large plastic spoon, serrated if you have one, and stir slowly, gently, and infrequently while cooking. You’ll have less broken shells this way!

Ok, back to the chicken! Toss the chicken with your buffalo sauce. Use as much or as little sauce as you want, but remember, you’re going to make a creamy, ranchy sauce to help cool it off:

Next, mix together the can of cream of chicken soup and the ranch dip to make a thick sauce:

Now comes the fun part: stuffing the shells!

Things to ignore in this photo: My sausage fingers and the sink PACKED full of dirty dishes.

First add a spoonful of the ranch sauce. Then add a spoonful of the chicken. Top it off with a pinch of shredded cheese. Start lining up the shells in a 13×9 pan.

Repeat until the pan is completely full. Once the pan is full, top it off with the remaining cup or so of the ranch sauce:

Cover it with foil and bake it for about 45 minutes. It will be all bubbly and gooey! After 45 minutes, take off the foil and sprinkle it with MORE cheese. Throw it back in the oven for another 5 or so minutes to melt up the cheese.

I know, right?! It’s just as gooey and cheesy as it looks!

Pair it with some tasty steamed veggies and some apple slices:

Then maybe you can finish off the meal with some yummy Mississippi Mud brownies that you found in the pantry that you don’t ever remember buying but are SO glad you did:

Oh yes, it has mini marshmallows in there.

These shells were DIVINE and a GREAT stick-to-your-ribs winter feast! Oh, and they heat up GREAT, too, which is good cause it makes TONS of left-overs!

Here’s the recipe:

Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Shells

2-3 Chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 box cooked jumbo pasta shells
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 cup sour cream ranch dip
3/4 cup buffalo sauce
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped green onions

Cook and shred chicken, and boil shells until cooked. Heat oven to 350*. Spray a 13×9 inch pan with cooking spray. Toss chicken with buffalo sauce. Stir together soup, ranch dip, and 2/3 cup green onions. Reserve approx 1/2-1 cup of the ranch sauce. Fill each shell with a tablespoon of ranch sauce, a tablespoon or so of chicken, and top with approximately a tablespoon of shredded cheese. Repeat until the shells are gone or until the pan is filled. Cover pan with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and top with remaining cheese and green onions. Put back in the oven uncovered until cheese melts. Let sit for five minutes when done cooking.

recipes

It’s a Razzle Dazzle Birthday!

Nov 22nd, 11 / 4 Comments

We celebrated Aric’s birthday last weekend with a Yo Gabba Gabba themed party. My goal was to make it low key and no big deal. It turned into a DIY-nightmare.

The whole reason I wanted to do a Gabba birthday was because I wanted to use my brand new Cricut machine to make this banner:

Click image to see full size

I honestly don’t remember what gave me the inspiration to make this, but I completely LOVE how it turned out. It’s made with scrapbook paper, my Cricut machine with the cartridge that came with it, rubber cement, and ribbon. And it only took me 2 hours. Or something. I don’t remember. But I love it, and it’s now hanging in Aric’s room as a permanent art installation

So. Now that I had the banner, I needed to come up with an awesome cake idea. A lightbulb turned on in my head and I thought, “ZOMG! I’ll make a Muno cake (the red guy) but I’ll make it out of RED VELVET CAKE!!!”

So I bought a box of Red Velvet Cake mix and threw it in the oven. Thirty minutes later I checked on it, only to realize I didn’t actually turn the oven on. Fail #1. So I turned on the oven and baked it. When it was time to take it out, I put it on a wire rack to cool. When it was mostly cool, I used my hands to transfer the 13×9 slab of cake onto a flat cookie sheet for easier decorating. It broke in half. Fail #2. I took my knife and started shaping it into the Muno body shape I wanted. And I cut. And cut. And cut some more until there was hardly any cake left to decorate. Fail #3. Then I attacked it with red frosting. And it crumbled apart. Fail #4.

So I said, “Screw this ish!” and turned all the unfrosted Red Velvet Cake into Red Velvet Cake Balls.

Basically, they are as delicious as they look.

These? Totally made up for the massive fail that was Muno Cake Attempt #1. (Super easy recipe from Bakerella!)

So then I was in a pickle. I didn’t have enough cake mix left to make another cake. OR DID I???? Turns out the Baking gods were smiling down upon me and gifted me with a box of white cake mix stashed away in my pantry. Muno Cake Attempt #2 went MUCH better.

Mildly frightening looking

This went over so well Aric talked about his “Nuno Ake” for a solid week.

Then, as if that wasn’t enough, I decided to attempt rainbow cupcakes. Of course I don’t have a photo, but I got the recipe here and that’s almost EXACTLY how mine turned out. These were oddly A LOT of fun to make, and even more fun to eat

AND THEN (oh yes, there is more) I went to the fabric store looking for a print that I could use to applique Aric’s name and the number 2 to the back of the shirt I bought for his party. But what I walked out of there with was 2 yards of flannel Cars print and 2 yards of a minky dot fabric to go with. And I made him a quilt. With 4 matching throw pillows. And the quilt needed those adorable little yarn knots to hold it all into place. But those adorable yarn knots are a PAIN IN THE YOU KNOW WHAT to add to an already thick quilt. And I had blisters on my fingers for days afterwards. But his reaction to it was pretty awesome:

The look on his face says it all!

Not the best shot of the quilt, but you get the drift.

I don’t know that I’ll ever attempt a quilt like that again, but I have to admit, I really like having something like that that I MADE!!

So there you have it: the low-key, no-stress birthday party that turned into a giant DIY mess. It’s a good thing Aric will always remember how much fun he had at his party!

Wait……